The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780425129616
Edition: Berkley ed.
ISBN: 0425129616
Item Dimensions: 5867822417
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: November 01, 1991
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: August 03, 2004
Studio: Berkley
Features:- ISBN13: 9780425129616
- Condition: New
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Editorial Review:Product Description:This is the Christie that started it all--the sublime introduction of her master sleuth, Hercule Poirot, here investigating the mysterious death of a wealthy heiress found murdered behind the locked doors of her boudoir.
Average Rating:
Rating:
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It was fascinating to read Agatha Christies first book which was rejected by a few publishing houses. I had delighted in it so looked to your site to find a large print edition for my mother as I knew she would also love to read it.
Rating:
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Sampling the first couple of dozen reviews, I fail to see any of what is being listed here by Amazon, that is, the Audio Partners audio book unabridged reading of Christies, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, by David Souchet, who has given us the most convincing Poirot in portraying the role for BBC and A&E television. Since many summaries and evaluations of the written book have appeared, I will make no comment on the story save to echo the view that this is good Christie but only the beginning of the character she ultimately delineated more appealingly. Souchet's reading is excellent, of course, with adequate voice characterizations of the variety of different speaking roles in the text. Hastings, the narrator for the book, naturally, is the most defined. Souchet creates an appropriately young (he is supposed to be in his early twenties at this time) voice, naive, overconfident, assertive, bewildered, easily bruised, angry, humiliated, awed, puzzled, as he deals with the Old Man who often seems to him to be more of an early senile dementia case than the brilliant detective he had been. He manages this central voice quite well, as he does the men and women who make up the suspects and walk-ons customary in the Christie cast. Surprisingly, perhaps only because I was not reading the book, is what I see as a somewhat too flighty Poirot, not as weighty as in the TV productions (where he retains the Belgian excitability). At any rate, I found the voice less appealing than in the filmed versions.
That is a minor point. Overall, there is a vivid portrait of the murder scene and the interactions comprising the plot to its denouement with the surprise solution offered to all the suspects gathered for that purpose in the murder house (but not Inspector Japp, who has strictly an "also with" role in the book.
At the price being charged as of this date, the audio book is a bargain for those addicted to them as am I.
Rating:
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English country house murder, limited pool of suspects (mostly, the Cavendish family), lots of zigzagging and backtracking, red herrings and buried clues. In other words, classic Agatha Christie, though I believe this was her first (Poirot) novel, related through Hastings, who is the perfect stolid British foil to the eccentric and excitable little Belgian. Gets a little complicated in the plot, but the style is smooth and engaging. For a modern Agatha Christie (English country house, limited pool of suspects), I recommend the slightly spoofy "Christmas is Murder" by C. S. Challinor. Christmas is Murder (A Rex Graves Mystery)
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I have read many Agatha Christie novels since I was a teenager, there is something charming and intelligent and witty about them, with this novel I finally got to read the one that started it all. Book one was actually quite good, I was entranced the whole time I was reading it, the story appears to be quite simple and the obvious is suddenly questioned, the suspect count rises and the real murderer slithers unnoticed, that is until the little Belgian super hero, Hercule Poirot gets involved. Invited by his friend Hastings, he's joined at the great mansion at the Styles Court where Emily Inglethorp runs the house, along with her new husband and her friends and relatives she lives of the riches her deceased husband has left her. On what seems a random evening she suffers horribly and ends up dead, with her current will in question and some strange things happening between the quests and the family members, there is sudden distrust of some of the members, but those who seem guilty and those are actually guilty are two different things, it's up to Poirot to stretch his little legs and big brain and get to the bottom of things. There is greed and jealousy and hidden feelings that surface only to explode in everyone's face, the fun has began!
The book was a lot of fun, not only is it a fast and captivating read, it makes the reader think quite a bit. I took my time reading it and loosely going over the clues in my head. Upon reading the ending I was off in my decision of the guilty suspect but never the less I loved the ending and the final explanation, some clues might not be as crystal clear as others but there are many of them; reading is fun when the field is wide, not when it's thin and obstructed by lack of ideas and this novel certainly had me guessing all over the place. Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors because every time I read her books I feel a jolt of joy, I get so much out of them and nothing written in these days will ever compare, so to me they are relics from the past that shine even brighter than many brand new books written these days. The mystery is fun but the whole feel of this book is even better, the old fashioned ideas and culture adds something whimsical to all of her works. Every time I pick up a Hercule Poirot novel I know I will have a nice time, so far I haven't been disappointed as I have read them half my life and will continue to do so. Currently I had to start book number two in the series, I am on such a happy high from the first one that my thirst for mystery hasn't been quenched yet, so I'm off to read "Murder on the links" and see where the adventure takes me, from what I head it's Paris and the crime is quite good..
- Kasia S.
Rating:
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"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is the first published book of Agatha Christie's and the first book where she introduces her well-known private detective Hercule Poirot.
The fact that the book is Christie's first effort is apparent. It definitely lacks the finesse of her later works. The main thing that drags down this otherwise standard Christie story is the trial proceedings. It would have been wiser to edit out that part of the book altogether as it added very little to the investigation.
However, the signature marks of Christie's books (that I personally enjoy so much) - the murder in a rich upper-class English home, family secrets, minute clues and a murderer you can never guess - are already present. Plus, the narrator of the book - Hastings - is a lovely storyteller - very straight-forward, albeit not too smart, funny, and always in search for the next girl to fall in love with. Reminded me of P.G. Wodehouse's Berty Wooster, actually.
A nice book, not Christie's best, but enjoyable enough.
Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.
